In the healthcare industry, the availability of supply products is critical. Various systems exist that provide tracking of product usage, quick replenishment, user tracking, and patient tracking for billing purposes.
In addition, closed cabinet systems exist that prevent the removal of items without the entry of necessary data to perform the above tracking and prevent diversion or theft. Such a system is particularly applicable to the expensive items that are used in an operating room (OR) or cath lab. However, closed cabinet systems are also applicable to the high volume diversion of inexpensive items that are useful outside the healthcare facility such as batteries, bandages, shampoos, pens etc., where the user may consider the item too small to be considered “theft.”
In developing such systems, the challenge lies in balancing convenience and speed of access along with entering the necessary data to identify the user, the product and the account number or patient. Systems that dispense an individual product in the same manner as a candy machine, while desirable for convenience and security, are usually too expensive, require special packaging, and are not flexible in terms of the various size and configurations of product that need to be stocked in a hospital. They are also not very space efficient, since items are individually spaced and housed.
The use of RFID tags on products presents an opportunity to track individual products without the need for expensive dispensing systems. This is particularly true of expensive product where it is worth incurring the additional expense of applying the RFID tags. RFID tags are not currently available on products like bar codes, and are not likely to be generally available on healthcare products for many years.